Wednesday, June 22, 2011

06/22/2011
Noynoy’s public satisfaction is fast dipping, losing, from his best net rating of +64 in November, to +48 this month, June, or just a week to complete his first full year as president.

That’s a big drop of 16 points, which is substantial, although predictably, Malacañang is playing it down, claiming that Noynoy still enjoys wide public support, citing the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey’s rating of “good” at +48,

06/22/2011
What a feeble excuse for Noynoy not to sign the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) election postponement measure immediately.

In trying to rid the public of suspicion that he is delaying the passage of the law on the ARMM poll postponement, he now claims that it is scheduled for signing on June 30, 2011, in order for all the “principal sponsors” of the bill to be present during its signing.

What? When the President says he will be signing a bill, or bills, the principal sponsors, all of whom are his allies, will quickly come, no matter the date. Not to attend would be seen an ally’s disinterest in the bills he sponsored. Yet Noynoy intimates that he could not schedule the ARMM delay bill because he wants the principal sponsors around?.... MORE

06/22/2011
PARIS — Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s proposed new Constitution would do little to change the status quo, falling short of expectations raised during the heady early days of the Arab Spring, analysts say.

“In terms of the distribution and architecture of power, this constitution is still far from democratic,” said political scientist Mohamed Madani of Mohammed V University in Rabat.

The touted new constitutional monarchy is “drowned” amid a raft of qualifiers and not backed up by the text, Madani said.

Under the draft Constitution unveiled by the king on Friday, he would remain head of state and the military and still appoint ambassadors and diplomats, while retaining the right to name top officials of unspecified “strategic” administrations.... MORESource: The Daily Tribune

06/22/2011
KATHMANDU — Having won an extension to do in three months what it failed to manage in three years, Nepal’s parliament has only deferred a crisis that threatens the Himalayan nations’s fragile peace process.

Elected in 2008 after a decade of civil war between the government and Maoist insurgents, the 601-member parliament, or Constituent Assembly, was given a two-year mandate to write a new constitution.

But even after a one-year extension granted in 2010, the country’s bickering political parties were unable to reach a consensus on the new charter — meant to pave the way for fresh elections and usher in a new social and political order after centuries of inequality.

Facing a constitutional crisis, political leaders agreed late last month to a further three-month extension and downgraded the task to just hammering out a first draft for the public to see..... MORE

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada may still be included in the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) reinvestigation of the November 2000 murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, Secretary Leila de Lima said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, De Lima said the former leader might be invited by prosecutors to give his side once state witness former Senior Supt. Cesar Mancao II appears before state lawyers.

“If that reference to the former President as the alleged ‘bigote’ again crops up in the statements, then so be it — he will be included (in the reinvestigation),” she told a news conference.

The DoJ chief stressed that the decision on whether to include Estrada or not would really depend on testimonies to be submitted by Mancao and other accused in the double murder case already undergoing trial in a Manila court, including former Supt. Glenn Dumlao and former Senior Supt. Michael Ray Aquino who is
expected to be extradited from the US within the week..... MORE

By Benjamin B. Pulta 06/22/2011
The Supreme Court (SC) upheld with finality an earlier decision affirming businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.’s ownership of the 20 per cent shares of outstanding capital stocks in Asian conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) that in turn ended debates on whether or not these came from the multi-billion-peso coconut levy funds.

In its ruling, the high court turned down all motions for reconsideration filed in connection with the case, and ordered that no further pleadings will be entertained and that an entry of judgment should be made in due course.

Denied were the motions filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in behalf of the government, former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez, and a multi-sectoral group headed by former Senators Jovito Salonga and Wigberto Tañada..... MORE

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday renewed its call to all remaining Filipinos in strife-torn Yemen to leave as tension in the Middle East state continues to escalate.

Since the government ordered the evacuation of all Filipinos in Yemen in May 30, only 178 of the estimated 1,200 Filipinos there have returned home.

Manila raised the crisis alert level in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa to alert level 4 on June 6, where mandatory evacuation and repatriation at the expense of Philippine government is in effect. The government has also banned work deployment and all kinds of travel to the country.

Philippine ambassador-designate to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago, who leads a crisis team in Yemen, said Filipinos “should not wait until it is too late for them to leave Yemen.” Manila does not have an embassy in Yemen.

A live online “webcast” of the lower court’s proceedings in the ongoing Maguindanao massacre murder case has been ordered by Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona.

In an order to the tribunal’s Public Information Office (PIO), the head magisrate ordered the webcast to allow more people, particularly those outside the country, to view the proceedings.

Corona’s order finetuens an earlier unanimous decision on June 14, granting the request of several media entities and relatives of the massacre victims for the live broadcast of the trial.

Court administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said his team is now restructuring the Court’s website and acquiring the technical requirements to comply with the order of the Chief Justice..... MORE

By Pat C. Santos and Aytch S. de la Cruz 06/22/2011
A barangay chairman is now in hot water after a 15-year-old girl filed a complaint against him at dawn Tuesday before the Manila Police District-Women’s and Children Concern Division, claiming she was sold to three members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) in exchange for sexual orgy.

The victim identified as “Sweety” (not her real name) accused Barangay Chairman Angelo Morillo of Barangay 637, Zone 65 of pimping her to three PSG soldiers but failed to name them.

MPD Police Station 8 commander Supt. Jimmy Tiu said the incident happened around 11 p.m. in front of the barangay hall of Barangay 637, Zone 65, on J.P. Laurel Street near Malacañang, Manila.

The victim was in front of the barangay hall accompanied by two of her friends when they greeted Morillo who was then drunk, but after a few minutes Morillo grabbed the hand of the victim and pushed her towards a group of men who were also standing in front of the barangay hall..... MORE

06/22/2011
Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile yesterday reiterated calls for Malacañang to review the implementation of the K+12 program as he pushed new rules that would make school administrators more accountable for the quality of education both in public and private schools throughout the country.

Enrile said protests from teachers and parents following the implementation of the Universal Kindergarten Program are an indication that the current school system is not ready to handle the additional load.

The K+12 program calls for additional year for both the elementary and the secondary levels..... MORE